Hotbed



Sept. 22, 1931. w. MCKEE 1,824,439

HOTBED Fild A 28, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l W. MCKEE Sept. '22, 1931.

HOTBED 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1929 INVENTOR W/L/S /V-C KEF BY ATTORNEYJJ` Patented Sept. 22, 1931 UNrrED,sfrAri;s 'l vmrsmioFincr;

WILLISAMGKEE, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO,AssIGNOE To THE CENTRAL UNITED NATIONAL Y BANK, fA CORPORATION oF THELUNITED STATESl Y l. Y

" a l HOTBED f Application led August 28,

This invention has to do with coolingbeds such as are used'for handling hot iron, steel or other metallicarticles and the like and is primarily concerned with certain'novel afp.

paratus for conveying and manipulating such articles while they are ina heated condition in which they maybe yeasily deformed during the handling.

This invention has in view the providing Y of an apparatus Vwhich will maintain the material being handled in a separated condition so Vas to Vfacilitate the cooling action, and'which tends to straighten'out the articles being handled rather than deformthemout of shape as has `heretofore been the case in apparatus of this type. Y I

More in detail, the instant invention comprehends the provision of mechanism of novelv construction lfor receiving the hot ao articles on a conveying bed and maintaining the individuality of .the articles during thev operation of the handling mechanism.

Another proposition of importance to the instant invention is that of'providing two fsets of handling apparatus which are ,ar-

ranged in a'pair and are associatedwith a central runout for supplying the bars to the beds. The arrangement of conveying apparatus in pairs also makes possible the use se of a novel type of mechanism for actuating the beds on the counterbalancing principle which is a feature of paramount importance. Other more detailed objects and. advant-k ages will in part become apparent and in Si; part be stated as the description of the invention'proceeds. Fora full and more com-V plete understandingthereof, reference may be had to the following description vand accompanying drawings wherein,

Figure l is a plan view, somewhat diagrammatic of apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention, and f Figure 2 is a transverse section taken about on the line 2 2 of Figure 1. f n.

Referring now to the drawings, the apparatus includes, as essential' parts thereof, certain mechanisms, to wit, the central runout assembly designated generally A, the pair of stationary conveyor beds referred to in their entirety by the referencacharacter down which the materialfsli 1929. serial Nb. 388,920.'-

B, the operating or moving mechanism C for thebeds B, and the apparatus for receiving the material being handled from the beds and'transferring them vto conveyor rollers. The two transferring assemblies shown'in the presentfembodiment are designated D..

The central runout A comprises a table J through the-top of which projects a series of rollers-which are swingably mounted Iat each end inthe longitudinally extending bars f 2 and 3 located below theV table J. These bars 2 and 3 are movable lengthwise to vary the angularity -of the rollers 1. The mechanism for this operation includes a shaft 4 to which" is non-rotatablyfastened the arms 5 and 6. The arm 5 is fastened tov the bar 2 and the arm 6 to the bar 3 by links. As the shaft 4 rotates the arm '5 is moved `in one direction and the arm 6 in the opposite direction.

This action, of course, entails a corresponding movementon the part of the bars 2 and 3. `Keyed to the lower endof the shaft 4 isv jacent table rollers andhave inclined sides des against a cona tinuous stop.l l

Briefly .describing the operation ofthe cenV i tral runout assembly Ait is noted that an articleis first fed onto the table and rollers 1 i position. Aprons l() are'located between adon one side of the partition 9. The rollers 1 T are positioned ata slight angle toa line perpendicular to the central guide to urge the article against the central member`9. Thenv the article has reached the desired discharge position on the rollers l the angularity of they 1 latter is reversed to a maximum to quickly throw the article away from the partition 9 on to the apron 10.'A "Phe-angularity of the rollers is then reduced so that they are skewed just suiiiciently'to urge asubsequent article against. the other side ofthe partition 9." The Switch mechanism for feedingthe maiterial to alternately opposite sides of the member 9 is not herein disclosed as it is not a part of the present invention. A mechanism for this purpose is fully shown and described in my copending application, Serial No. 93,134, filed March 8, 1926. v

The conveyor beds B are yof duplicate construction so only one of them is herein described forY the purposes of this description. One of thebeds B comprises a Vseries of stationary bars 11 which are spaced apart and fixedly mounted on t-he supporting frame work of the apparatus which is referred tov generally as F. The bars 11 are notched as shown at 12 to provide individual supporting and aligning means foreach piece of material handled by the bed.

y Disposed in the spaces between the 'fixed0 bars 11 are movable bars 13 which are mounted on the supporting members 14 which are movable under the influence of the operating mechanism C to be later described in detail. The movable bars 13 are also providedl with notches 12a. The apron 10 receives in its notches a piece of material delivered from the central runout A. The movable bars 13 are' of as shown at 18 and 19. The'member 17 isA non-rotatably mounted on a shaft 20 which is properly supported in the framework F. The

reference character F is intended to designatev all the immovable supporting structure ony which the operating parts are mounted. This includes the lower triangular structure aswell as the main horizontal supporting construction. An arm 21 is keyed tothe rock shaft 20 and at its free end is pivotally connected with a link 22 as shown at- 23. The link 22 at its other end receives an eccentric 24 carried by a main drive shaft 25. The latter is mounted in the supporting framewor F andmay be driven'from any suitable power source. This `shaft 25 also carries a second eccentric 26 whichis received in a complemental opening in alink member 27. At one end'the latter is pivotally connected to the member 15 as shown at 28 and at the other end to a connecting rod-29 as shown at 30.Vv lThe member 2 1s pivotally connected to member 16 as at 3 The mechanism C, it is noted, is actuated or driven from a single drive shaft. Not only doesthls kprovide Va simplied CQBS/lllCtOnp of apron 10 to the 'next' but a saving in power is afforded and the operation rendered smooth.

Rotation of the shaft 25 imparts to the bars 13 in the beds B elliptical movements which are substantially counterparts, as described in the preceding paragraph. As the member 15 moves downwardly, link 27 pivots it about pivot 18. At the same time member 16 moves upwardly, and is pivoted about pivot 19 by link 29 in a direction opposite to that of member 15. These two movements imparted to the supports 14 combine to provide the elliptical orbits which are the resultants of these lateral and vertical movements. The horizontal axes of the moving orbits are below the top of the fixed bar. The bed makes only onehalf a revolution and then stops. This raises, advances andflowers the material on one side while the moving membersl on the other side are moving below the stationarybars towards the central runout to aposition preparatory to raising, advancing and loweringy the ma-` terial on that side in the next operation of the bed. As the bars 13 of one bed B are picking upthe material being handled and carrying it to the next notch 12 by movement above the fixed bars 11 outwardly from the central runout, the bars 13 in the other bed B are being returned by a movement below the'fixed bars 11 and towards the central runout, to the position wherein they can lift the material from the fixed bars 11. It is notable that as the movable bars 13 travel intheir prescribed paths the angularity of thexbars13 with re- -spect to the horizontal varies due to the pivotal arrangement 18, 19,28 and 31.'Y

It is noteworthy that the mechanism of one bed B counterbalances that of the other bed so that no power is wasted in lifting the moving parts of the bed. AAs a result of this arrangement a much smaller amount of power is consumed in handling the material. For each operation the only power necessary, outside of overcoming inertia andfriction, is that required to actually lift the material being shifted.`

The mechanisms D which receive material from the bed vB and transfers it to conveyor rollers'32 are of duplicate construction and each of them comprises a series of pairs of shuffle bars 33 and 34. These bars slide at one end on supporting members 35 which are carried by a rockable shaft 36. At their other ends the bars 33 and 34 each receive oppositely disposed eccentrics 37 and 38. These eccen` trios are carried by a shaft 39 which may be driven from a suitablev power source. As the shaft 39 rotates t-he bars 33 and 34 move alternately up and down and lengthwise, one set of bars always supporting the material independently of the other. The shuffle. bars which support the material will 'always' be moving outwardly with` the load with respect tc the central runway. 'Hence, the material is moved out to the placewhere it isreceived by the conveyor rollers 32 to be transferred to a desired place. By the time the material has reached the shuffle bars, it is cooled sufficiently to obviate the liability of deformation due to handling.

I show on the left of the plan view a table for handling the cold material which is of the usual construction having a line shaft and gearing. On the right side I show an alternate construction in which I use a magnetic roller as disclosed in my patent application Serial No. 220,111, filed September 27, 1927. In this connection the magnetic rollers are spaced 35 to 40 apart with idlers between them. This eliminates the line shaft and the necessity of keeping the table lined up. It also greatly decreases maintenance cost.

The operation of the entire apparatus may be briefly summed up as follows: Material in the form of heated bars are alternatelyT fed to the central runout A on opposite sides of the member 9. The rollers 1, which are of the type described in my applicationSerial No. 93,134, filed March 8, 1926, are` properly operated through the medium of member 8 to throw the bars onto aprons 10. The notches l2 maintain the heated bars separated and due to the movement thereof from notch to notch the heated bars are straightened. This straightening of the material being handled is due to the facts that these notches are all inclined and to the slight falling action of the material as it is set into the alignednotches yof the fixed bars by the movable ones. The

edges of the notches engage the material with suHicient force to straighten out the material if it should be warped or curved due to rolling or previous handling. From the beds B the bars are transferred to the mechanism D and by the latter to the rollers 32.

What I claim is: y

1. Mechanism of the class described, comprising, in combination, two series `of fixed supports, two series of supports movable in Y orbits so as to convey material in opposite directions and means for operating bot-h series of movable supports simultaneously, consisting of a single drive shaft, a pair of cam means carried on the shaft, and connections between each of the cam means and each series of movable supports.

2. Mechanism of the class described, comprising, in combination, a series of fixed supports, a series of movable supports and means for operating the movable supports consisting of a shaft, a pair of cam means carried on the shaft, and connections between each of the cam means and the series of movable supports, one of the cam means being adapted to impart to the support-s a vertical component of movement while the other cam means imparts a horizontal component of move.- ment to the supports, and means for resolving the two components of movement into a resultant of the two, said means. including linkage for movingfone group of'movable supports upwardly-'in onedinection, while at the same timemoving another group downwardly in the samey direction'.V

3. Aparatus of the classldescribed comprising in combination, a pair of beds, .each bed 'comprising series of movable bars, the vmovable bars being-disposed betweenthe fixed bars, a drive shaft la rock shaft,ia set of rocker members mounted at points vintermediate .their ends on said rock shaft, sets of upwardly extending lin-irs pivotally connected tothe outer ends of said rocker members andy eachset supporting' aV series of thev movable vbars and means .directly yconnected to said drive shaft for rocking said rock shaft.-

4. Apparatus ofthe` class described, comprising in combination, a pair of beds, each bed comprising a series of `fixed barsand a series of movable bars, the movable bars beingdisposed betweenl the fixed `bars, a drive shaft, arock shaft, a set of rocker members mounted at points'intermediate Atheir ends on said rock shaft, sets :of upwardly extendingl links pivotally connected` to the outer endsof said rocker ymembers and each set supporti-ng a serie'sf of the movable bars, means for rocking saidroc'lrer members to causel verticalr movement` of said movable bars, and means directly connected'to said drive shaft forcausing horizontal-movement of said movable bars.

5. Apparatus of the class described, comprisingin combination, la pair of beds, each bed comprising a kseries of fixed bars and a series of movable bars, the movable bars *bea ser-ies of fixed bars and a shaft, a rockshaft; a set of rocker members mounted at points intermediate their ends on said rocklshaft, sets of upwardly extending links pivotally supported by the outer ends of said rocker members, yeach set supporting a series of the movable bars, means for rockingsaid rocker members to 4cause vertical. movement of said movable bars, and means'directly connected to said drive shaft and pivotally connected `to saidk supporting links for' causing horizontal :movement of saidsmovable bars.

6. Apparatus of the class described, comprising in combination, a pair of beds. each bed comprising a series of fixed bars and a series of movable bars, the movable bars being disposed between the fixed bars, a drive shaft, a rock shaft, means connecting said rock shaft to said drive shaft for rocking said rock shaft, a setk of rocker members mounted at points intermediate their ends on said rock shaft, sets of upwardly extending links pivotally supported by the outer ends of said rocker members, each set supporting a series of the movable bars, means for rocking said rocker arms to cause vertical movement of said movable bars, and

' ends, a drive shaft, means directly connectmeans directly connected to said drivel shaft for causing horizontalmovement of said movable bars.

7. Mechanism of the class described comprising in combination two seriesk of fixed supports, two series of movable supports,

each series of movable supports being supported on a singleseries of movable links, a drive shaft and means connecting said drive shaft to said movable links for im parting elliptical motion to` said movable supports. i i

8. Mechanism ofthe class described comprising in combination two series of fixed supports, two series of movable supports, each series of movable'supports vbeing supported on a single series of movable links, a drive shaft and means connected directly to said drive shaft and to said movable links for causinghorizontal movement of the latter and of said movable supports.

9."Mechanism of the class described coinprising two sets of fixed bars, two sets of movable bars associated therewith', a series of rocker members pivoted intermediate their ing said ldrive shaft to said rocker members for rocking the latter, and a single series of upright links for each setof movable bars, the series of links being pivoted to said series of rocker members near the opposite ends 0f the latter, each series of upright links supporting a set of movable bars.

10. Mechanism of the class described comprising two vsets of fixed bars, two setsof movable bars associated therewith, a series of rocker members pivotedintermediate their ends, a drive shaft, means connecting said drive shaft, to said rocker members for rock- -ing the latter, and a single series of upright links for each sety of movable bars, the series of links being pivoted to said series of rocker members near the opposite ends of the latter, means directly connected to said drive shaft and said upright links for causing horizontal movement of the latter, each series of upright links supporting a set of movable bars.

In testimony whereof Ihereunto aHiX my signature this 19th day of August, 1929.

y WILLIS MOKEE. 

